The second ODI match to be played between India and New Zealand in Rajkot on Wednesday is going to be special in many ways. By winning the first match, Team India has already taken a 1-0 lead in the series. If the Indian team captained by Shubman Gill also wins the second match, then it will gain an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. In such a situation, the team management will focus on fielding a strong and balanced playing eleven.

However, before the second ODI, Team India has also suffered a setback. All-rounder Washington Sundar is out of the series due to injury. He suffered from side strain while bowling in the first ODI played in Vadodara. After this, on the advice of the medical team, he has been given rest for the remaining two matches. Sundar’s absence has started a new discussion regarding the team combination.

Chance for a new face to replace Sundar

After Washington Sundar’s exclusion, the Indian team has included 26-year-old Ayush Badoni in the ODI squad. Now there is every possibility that Badoni may get a chance to make his ODI debut for India in Rajkot. Team India needs a batsman at number 5 who can help in bowling along with scoring runs. Badoni seems to fit into this role.

Why Badoni is the Strongest Choice

Ayush Badoni has been consistently performing well in domestic cricket. He contributed with both bat and ball for Delhi in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26. In the match against Railways, he also showed his all-round ability by taking wickets at important moments. He has the option of off-spin bowling, which can prove useful on the Rajkot pitch.

The team also has options like Nitish Kumar Reddy and Dhruv Jurel. However, Reddy is a fast bowling all-rounder and the team is already planning to go with three fast bowlers. At the same time, Jurel is a wicketkeeper-batsman and does not bowl, due to which the balance of the team can be disturbed. In such a situation, it is almost certain that Badoni will get priority.

Team India does not seem to be in the mood for any major changes for the second ODI. This clearly means that left arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh may once again remain out of the playing eleven.

India’s probable playing eleven

Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ayush Badoni, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.

Arshdeep Singh is considered a very happy person. Arshdeep, who proves to be lethal for the batsmen on the cricket field, often makes videos on comedy viral reels on social media. He also tries to make the people around him laugh. Currently, one of his videos is going viral on social media, in which he is touching the feet of an elderly female fan. The female fan was standing to get a photo clicked with him.

Arshdeep Singh will join the team for the ODI series in a few days, after which he has to play the T20 series against New Zealand and then the T20 World Cup. In the video now going viral, Arshdeep is seen touching the feet of the woman who was waiting to get photographed with him.

Arshdeep touched the feet of an elderly fan

In the viral video, when Arshdeep sees an elderly woman standing while leaving, the first thing he does is ‘Sat Shri Akal’. After this Arshdeep touches his feet and takes blessings. He asks about the well-being of the elderly woman and then the fan says that she wants to take a photo with you.

Then Arshdeep Singh stops and comfortably gets photographed with him. This video won the hearts of the fans, seeing which users are praising Arshdeep’s values.

: IG/thecidhant#ArshdeepSingh pic.twitter.com/dsPIEQXYgL

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) January 4, 2026

Amazing performance in Vijay Hazare Trophy

Arshdeep, while playing for his home team Punjab on January 3, bowled brilliantly against Sikkim. In his first match in the ongoing edition of Vijay Hazare Trophy, he took 5 wickets for 34 runs, for which he received the Player of the Match award.

The next few months are going to be very busy for Arshdeep. He is part of the India vs New Zealand ODI series starting from January 11. After this, he will play a 5-match T20 series against New Zealand, after which the T20 World Cup 2026 will start a week later. After the World Cup, all the players will join their IPL teams. Arshdeep Singh plays for Punjab Kings in IPL.

Punjab Announces 18 member Squad For Vijay Hazare Trophy: Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 will start from December 24, for which Punjab has announced an 18-member team. Star players like Shubhman Gill, Abhishek Sharma and Arshdeep Singh have been included in this team. At present the name of the captain has not been announced. India will play a series of ODI and T20 matches against New Zealand from January 11, 2026. In such a situation, it is not decided what will be the availability of Gill, Abhishek and Arshdeep.

Shubman Gill out of 2026 T20 World Cup

Shubman Gill has not been included in the Indian team for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 and the T20 series against New Zealand. However, Abhishek and Arshdeep are part of this T20 team. Apart from these three players, Punjab have selected a strong group of power-hitters and all-rounders including Prabhsimran Singh, Naman Dheer, Anmolpreet Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Sanvir Singh and Harpreet Brar. Gurnoor Brar and Krish Bhagat will lead the fast bowling attack.

Against Punjab in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26

Punjab had to face defeat in the quarter-finals of the last season. This team will play all its league matches in Jaipur and the Punjab team will face Maharashtra on December 24, 2025, after which it will face Chhattisgarh in the next match on December 26. On December 29, Punjab will face Uttarakhand, while on December 31, this team will face Himachal Pradesh. Next year, on January 3, 2026, Punjab will face Sikkim, while on January 6, this team will face Goa. He will face the Mumbai team on January 8. Punjab team will play all its 7 league matches in Jaipur. Punjab had to face defeat in the quarter finals last season. Arshdeep was their highest wicket-taker in the 2024-25 season.

Punjab team for Vijay Hazare Trophy:

Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Prabhsimran Singh (wicketkeeper), Harnoor Pannu, Anmolpreet Singh, Uday Saharan, Naman Dhir, Salil Arora (wicketkeeper), Sanveer Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Jashanpreet Singh, Gurnoor Brar, Harpreet Brar, Raghu Sharma, Krish Bhagat, Gaurav Chaudhary, Sukhdeep Bajwa.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-2026 edition is going to start from 24th December. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant will be in action on the first day. A total of 19 matches will be played on the first day. The squads of all the teams have arrived, know which big players will be seen playing in this tournament.

There will be a first group stage in Vijay Hazare Trophy. Delhi is in Group D, Mumbai is in Group C. There are 8 teams each in Group A, B, C and D. There are 6 teams in the plate group. A total of 38 teams are included in the tournament, between which 135 matches will be played. Talking about the format, first there will be round robin and then knockout stage. Its final will be played on 18 January.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will play 2 matches

Virat Kohli will be seen playing in Vijay Hazare Trophy after 15 years, he last played in this tournament in 2010. Rohit Sharma is playing in this tournament after 7 years. Virat Kohli has started practicing, while Rohit Sharma has reached Jaipur. Mumbai’s matches will be held in Jaipur. According to the report, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will play only the first 2 matches for their respective teams. Both will be part of the ODI series against New Zealand, which will start from January 11.

Will Shubman Gill play?

Indian Test and ODI team captain Shubman Gill has been kept out of the T20 World Cup 2026, due to his form. Meanwhile, he has been included in Punjab’s squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. If his team goes to the next round, he will also not be able to play, because the ODI series against New Zealand is starting from January 11.

These star players including Rishabh Pant, Prasidh Krishna will also play

Abhishek Sharma (Punjab), Arshdeep Singh (Punjab), S Bharat (Andhra), Nitish Kumar Reddy (Andhra), Jitesh Sharma (Baroda), Hardik Pandya (Baroda), Krunal Pandya (Baroda), Akash Deep (Bengal), Mohammed Shami (Bengal), Vaibhav Suryavanshi (Bihar), Sarfaraz Khan (Mumbai), Shardul Thakur (Mumbai), Rahul Chahar (Rajasthan), Khalil Big players like Ahmed (Rajasthan) etc. will also play in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26.

Punjab has announced its 18-member squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Abhishek Sharma and Arshdeep Singh are also included in this squad. With the arrival of three international star players, the Punjab team appears to be in a strong position, this team also has power hitting batsmen like Prabhsimran Singh, Naman Dheer and Ramandeep Singh. The most surprising thing is that Punjab has not announced any captain for the upcoming tournament.

Punjab’s 18-member squad includes Indian ODI and Test team captain Shubman Gill. Gill, who has not been included in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup by BCCI. This year, Gill has scored 490 runs in 11 ODI matches at a good average of 49. On the other hand, Gill’s T20 form in 2025 was disappointing. This year, he scored only 291 runs in 15 T20 matches, during which he did not score a century, let alone a half-century.

If we look at the Punjab team for Vijay Hazare Trophy, there are two in-form players in it in the form of Abhishek Sharma and Arshdeep Singh. This will be the first time that Gill will be taking the field for the first time after being expelled from the T20 World Cup squad. Well, Gill currently remains the captain of the ODI and Test team.

Punjab team has been placed in Group C in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26. Maharashtra, Mumbai, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Chhattisgarh and Sikkim are also included in this group. Punjab will play its first match with Maharashtra on 24 December.

Punjab squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy: Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Harnoor Pannu, Anmolpreet Singh, Uday Saharan, Naman Dhir, Salil Arora (wk), Sanveer Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Jashanpreet Singh, Gurnoor Brar, Harpreet Brar, Raghu Sharma, Krish Bhagat, Gaurav Chaudhary, Sukhdeep Bajwa.

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India has taken a 2-1 lead in the five-match T20 series by winning the third match of the T20 series against South Africa by 7 wickets. In this match played at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Indian fast bowler Arshdeep Singh was chosen as the ‘Player of the Match’, who took 2 wickets for just 13 runs in 4 overs.

After the match, Arshdeep Singh said, “When I came to the ground, everyone was telling me that this is also your home ground. So first of all I told them – ‘No, this is not my home ground.’ We just focused on the basics and trusted our skills.”

India had won the first match of the series played in Cuttack by 101 runs, after which it lost the next match played in New Chandigarh by 51 runs, but now Team India has registered a spectacular victory.

Arshdeep Singh said, “When you play at this level, there are some days when you are not able to do the things you want to do. The last match was a bad day, so it feels good to bowl well in this match. In this match, I just pitched the ball in the right places and tried to get as much help as I could from the wicket. The wicket had little support, the weather was also cold, so there was a lot of swing and seam. I just bowled the ball in the right places and got the reward. My niece is here, she is 10 months old, I want to dedicate this award to her.”

Talking about this match played in Dharamshala on Sunday, the South African team was limited to just 117 runs. In response, Team India registered victory in just 15.5 overs.

Jasprit Bumrah did not become a part of the Indian playing 11 in the third T20 against South Africa, which surprised the fans. Let us tell you that Bumrah is not injured, nor has he been given rest. The big reason behind his exclusion from the third T20 has come to light. BCCI issued an official clarification on this.

Bumrah out of the entire T20 series?

During the toss, Suryakumar Yadav confirmed that fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has gone back home due to personal reasons, due to which he is not playing in this match. After this, an official statement was also issued by BCCI. BCCI said that information about whether Bumrah will be able to participate in the remaining two matches of the series or not will be shared at the appropriate time.

BCCI said, “Jasprit Bumrah has returned home due to personal reasons and will not be available for the game. Updates regarding his inclusion in the squad for the remaining matches will be given at the appropriate time.”

Harshit Rana got a chance in place of Bumrah

Harshit Rana was included in the playing 11 in place of Bumrah, who took 2 wickets for 34 runs in his 4 overs. Arshdeep Singh bowled brilliantly, he gave only 13 runs in 4 overs and took 2 wickets.

Varun Chakraborty and Kuldeep Yadav also took 2-2 wickets. Shivam Dubey and Hardik Pandya got 1-1 wicket. Batting first, the entire South African team collapsed for 117 runs.

The second match of the ongoing 5-match T20 series between India and South Africa was played at the Maharaja Yadvendra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh. South Africa was successful in winning this match by 51 runs. After winning the toss, the Indian team, which came on the field to bowl first, performed disappointingly. At the same time, in the second match, an unwanted record has been registered in the name of Team India’s young fast bowler Arshdeep Singh, which no bowler in the world would want to break. Here we will tell you about that unwanted record which Arshdeep has made in his name.

Arshdeep Singh made an unwanted record

In the second match against South Africa, Arshdeep Singh bowled 13 balls in one over. With this, Arshdeep equaled the unwanted record of Afghanistan fast bowler Naveen Ul Haq in terms of bowling the most number of balls in an over during a T20 International (Full Members) match.

In this match, Arshdeep, who came to bowl the 11th over in the first innings, bowled a total of 13 balls, in which 18 runs were scored. Before Arshdeep Singh, Afghanistan’s Naveen Ul Haq had bowled 13 balls in a single over against Zimbabwe at Harare ground in the year 2024. At the same time, in the year 2021, against Pakistan in Johannesburg, South African bowler Sisanda Megala had bowled a total of 12 balls in one over.

Team India suffered a crushing defeat

South Africa defeated Team India by 51 runs in the second match. With this, the 5-match T20 series is tied at 1-1. After losing the toss, the South African team came to bat first and gave India a huge target of 214 runs. In reply, Team India could not even play the full 20 overs and was all out for 162 runs in 19.1 overs. Experienced wicketkeeper batsman Quinton de Kock played an important role in South Africa’s victory. In this match, De Kock played a brilliant inning of 90 runs in 46 balls with the help of 5 fours and 7 sixes, for which he was given the ‘Player of the Match’ award.

IND vs SA 2nd T20I: Team India, which took the lead by winning the first T20 against South Africa, looked completely scattered in the second match. India lost by 51 runs in the match played in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh and the series is now tied at 1-1. After this defeat, Team India is being heavily criticized on social media. After all, due to what reasons did the match get lost despite India’s victory being easy? Let us understand in detail.

Very poor bowling by Arshdeep Singh

This match of left arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh was completely forgettable. He gave away 54 runs in four overs and did not take a single wicket. In this match he bowled with an economy of 13.50. Not only this, Arshdeep bowled 7 wide balls in just one over! Arshdeep made the shameful record of T20 International by bowling 13 balls in one over. There were a total of 16 wide balls in India’s innings, which yielded 22 extra runs. Giving so many extra runs in such a high-scoring match directly became the reason for the defeat. The bowlers gave away 123 runs in the last 10 overs.

The opening pair disappointed again

There were a lot of expectations from the opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Shubhman Gill, but they were disappointed in both the matches. Gill could not even open his account and walked in the very first ball. Abhishek Sharma also got out after scoring 17 runs. Bad starts in two consecutive matches put huge pressure on the team. When the target is so big, early dismissal of openers makes run chase almost impossible. The Indian top order failed due to which the burden on the middle order increased.

Captain Suryakumar’s bad innings

Surya’s move had worked in the first match, but questions were raised on his strategy in the second match. Bowling change, field setting, death overs planning, the team was seen faltering at many places. As captain, when the team was in trouble, Surya himself was out after scoring only 5 runs. His criticism has intensified after he flopped in two consecutive matches.

The failure of the bowlers was also important

Along with Arshdeep, Jasprit Bumrah also remained ineffective. He gave away 45 runs in four overs and did not get a single wicket. The special thing is that four sixes were hit on his balls, which is a record in itself. Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja also failed to stop the South African batsmen.

In the second T20 played in Mullanpur, South Africa defeated Team India by 51 runs. Batting first, the visiting team had scored 213 runs, in reply the entire Indian team was reduced to 162 runs. In this match, Indian bowlers gave a total of 22 extra runs including 16 wides. This has become the joint second highest number of wide balls played by Team India in a T20 International.

Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and decided to bowl first. Batting first, South Africa scored 213 runs. In this, 22 runs were only extra. Arshdeep Singh bowled 7 wides in a single over, due to which even coach Gambhir looked angry. Of the 22 extra runs, 16 were wide, 1 bye and 5 leg byes.

It is after 7 years in T20 International cricket that Indian bowlers have bowled more than 15 wide balls in a match. Earlier this had happened against West Indies in 2018. Team India’s attempt to bowl the most wide balls in Mullanpur kept falling apart. The highest number of wides was bowled against Sri Lanka in 2009, when Indian bowlers bowled 17 wides.

Most wide balls by India in a T20

• 17 wides vs Sri Lanka, Mohali (2009)
• 16 wides vs West Indies, Chennai (2018)
• 16 wides vs South Africa, Mullanpur (2025)
• 15 wides vs South Africa, Durban (2007)

Arshdeep, Bumrah did not get wickets

Arshdeep Singh gave away 54 runs in 4 overs at an economy of 13.50, he bowled 9 balls wide. 5 sixes were hit in Arshdeep’s overs. Jasprit Bumrah also could not take wickets, he spent 45 runs in 4 overs at an economy of 11.25. 4 sixes were hit in Bumrah’s overs, he gave 1 wide run.

Hardik Pandya also did not get a wicket. He bowled 3 overs, in which he gave 34 runs. Shivam Dubey gave 18 runs in 2 overs. Varun Chakraborty was the most economical bowler for India, taking 2 wickets for 29 runs in 4 overs. Akshar Patel took 1 wicket for 27 runs in 3 overs.